


Stories of the Second Self: Stork of Midnight

by John_Steiner



Series: Alter Idem [106]
Category: Police - Fandom, Urban Fantasy - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:22:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22620121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Steiner/pseuds/John_Steiner
Summary: Working a power shift to support a shorthanded department night shift, Officer Pedro Hortez patrols the streets in stormy weather. Spotting a young woman dashing to a trash can and leaving something in it, Officer Hortez suspects trouble and gives chase. However, the woman turns out to be an angel and takes off to evade Padro's pursuit. Checking the can, he finds that an infant was left and the downpour begins. Unable to safely reach in to retrieve the baby with his giant-sized hands, Pedro frets over what to do until unlikely assistance is offered, if Pedro can trust their motives.
Series: Alter Idem [106]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618813





	Stories of the Second Self: Stork of Midnight

The department was shorthanded for the night, so Officer Pedro Hortez volunteered to work power shift. It mean overlapping the evening and night officers to keep a constant force on the streets during shift change, and due to the greater theft in dark hours.

Weather advisory suggested rain, so Hortez had his slicker on, as he cruised through the streets on the open-air conversion muscle car. At his size, it was the only vehicle the department could have Hortez driving in.

Down the road ahead of him, Hortez saw a young woman dart across the street with something in her arms. She looked around at a street corner, before she placed something into a city trash receptacle. That she looked around again made Hortez suspicious, so he flashed his lights and accelerated to the intersection.

Seeing his car, the girl turned and ran the opposite way. Hortez ground to a halt and pulled his Shockwave Taser out to aim and gave chase. Then the girl jumped, and Hortez heard the wing beats that let him know he was dealing with an angel. There were two types of people a giant like Hortez could not catch on foot, werewolves, but only if they had changed first, and angels in flight.

Given the bad light, Hortez doubted that either his car cam or body cam got enough detail for detectives in the department to get a solid ID on the woman. All Hortez could do now was see what she left, as the rain started pouring heavily.

Coming back to the receptacle, Officer Hortez heard the crying before he looked in. "Oh my god," and then pinched two fingers onto his radio handset while putting his taser away. "Eighty-three, Twenty-four to Dispatch, Code 3. I need an ambulance for an abandoned newborn."

Hortez gave the intersection address and listened. "Copy, Eighty-three, Twenty-four. I'll get an ambulance out when I can."

"It's pouring out here," Hortez called back, as he saw a civilian car pull over.

"I copy, Eighty-three, Twenty-four," the dispatcher said, "All ambulances are out on other calls. Do what you can."

"Ah, okay," Hortez responded, "Eighty-three, Twenty-four out."

A woman had gotten out of her car and was approaching the receptacle, spurring Hortez to intercede. "Excuse me ma'am, I've got an ambulance coming. I can handle it from here."

Except, Hortez realized while trying to reach in, that reaching in with his hand obscured his view of the baby, and he feared injuring while getting it out. A mental image of pouring the can over in his hand filled Hortez with more anxiety at picturing the baby tumbling out.

"I want to help," the woman said, and looked skyward. "This isn't going to let up."

"Okay," Hortez accepted and gave her room to get the child.

"I can't keep him warm though," the woman said, as she gently scooped up the child.

"Why," Hortez asked, before it hit him.

He pulled out his regular flashlight and turned it on at the woman.

She immediately reacted by flinching and whipping her head away. "Damn, that's bright."

"Turn toward me, Ma'am." Hortez's tone hardened.

She did, revealing solid back eyes, pale complexion, and a mouth full of razors when she said, "There. Happy?"

In an instant, Hortez had the taser back in hand, and set his feet while aiming. "Ma'am, put him down and step away."

"Are you kidding?" she griped, "The sidewalk is colder than I am, and it's wet as hell. I stopped because I saw the glow in the can."

"Ma'am...," Hortez said before she interrupted.

"Goddammit, officer," she shouted with a hint of a screech. "I'm a trained EMT. I work at a community medical clinic."

"Name and drivers license," Hortez demanded, still holding the taser.

"Jolene Walkers," she replied, carefully shifted the baby to get her wallet out. "I can't get my license out with one hand."

Accepting her wallet, Hortez opened it up to read the license. In the police academy he learned to take one extra step back at moments like this. Hortez didn't this time for fear he would be even further out of reach, in case she decided to feed on the baby right before him.

"Officer, he's getting colder," Jolene insisted.

Closing the wallet, he handed it back and then put the taser away. She might be ten times stronger than a human woman, but Hortez was almost twenty times stronger than a man. If he couldn't handle her without weapons, he figured he might as well turn in his badge now.

"Okay," Hortez decided and dropped to one padded knee with his hands out. "Give 'em to me. I need you to stay, though."

"Can I call my work?" Jolene asked, and she placed the child in his palm.

"Yes." Hortez nodded, and cupped his other hand over the baby to keep the rain off.

Holding the baby close to his chest, Hortez zipped down the slicker, and hunched over so that his hood offered more protection from the rain. Jolene induced another surge of adrenaline in Hortez, as she paced back to her car.

However, she leaned against her hood and put her phone to her ear. "Yeah, Deedee, an emergency's come up. I'm going to be late, and maybe not make it in tonight-- No, Terry's fine. I was on the way, and saw a glow of body heat in a trash can-- Yeah, someone left a baby in it-- There's a cop here who's keeping him warm-- It's got wings-- Yes, some angel must've left it out here in the freezing rain. And they say we're heartless."

The smirk Jolene made at her own joke, drew a scowl from Hortez, but he reminded himself of what she was. There were worse things someone of her Pentacaste could've done tonight.

"Yeah, it's okay little guy," Hortez said to the bawling baby that he felt warming up in his hold. "You're gonna be alright."

Jolene finished her call and came close to look at the child. "Sorry, if I alarmed you. I figured it was either handing him to you or putting him in my car, which really would've caused a scene."

Hortez noticed that she didn't ask how the baby was doing. Yet, he wasn't sure if because she didn't care or that she could tell the kid was in good, big hands.

"Who's Terry?" Hortez asked, as he started to rock the baby.

"Oh, he's my son," Jolene replied, "Had him before I died."

"I didn't mean to assume...," Hortez started to apologize.

"It's okay, I'm used to it," Jolene accepted easily enough. "Shoulda saw the old lady having a cow at a cemetery, when she saw me with my son."

"You'd think angels would be better than this," Hortez said, feeling his throat get tight.

She was about to say something, but clamped her mouth closed and then smiled. "Shut up, Jolene."

"What?" Hortez asked, searching her face.

"I was about to say something snarky about bad angels," Jolene said with her smirk still showing.

Hortez noticed ambulance lights down the road, and then the vehicle itself became visible in the intense downpour. They stopped, and the two paramedics rushed over already prepared to take the baby off Hortez's hands.

"We'll get him down to Cincinnati University Hospital, officer," one paramedic said.

"Alright," Hortez said, glad for the rain running down his face, and then turned to Jolene. "I'll need you to follow us to the hospital, so I can take a statement from you."

"Yeah, okay, sure," Jolene readily answered.

"Thank you." Hortez meant it, and blinked back tears. "And I'm sorry for thinking worse of you before."

The drive to the university hospital took only a few minutes, and Hortez's car was behind Jolene's as she followed the ambulance. He felt a little guilty for putting the vampire's car ahead of him to be sure, but then again his report would need that extra detail to show he kept a watchful eye on the situation.

Unable to go inside the hospital main doors, Hortez walked Jolene over to the covered parkway at the emergency entrance to write down Jolene's personal information and her statement. Then, he let her leave and spoke to hospital staff about finding the baby.

An hour later, one of the ER doctors came out to inform Hortez that the baby was healthy, though suffering mild hypothermia. The boy was just hours old, and his umbilical cord wasn't even tied off. In his mind, it narrowed down the list of reasons why a young woman would abandoned her newborn child like that.

None of them good.


End file.
